Witchling; Or, the Tale of a Girl and her Cat
Part One - New Moon One The pitter-patter of rain echoed on the tin roof of the house. Jillian sat at the kitchen table, working on her history paper. Andora, her mother, stood over some boiling concoction the stovetop, a spellbook on the counter beside her. "One eye of newt," Andora said to herself, "Where did Marcella leave the newt eyes?" She put her hands on her hips. "In the cubbard, Momma," Jill called out, "Left side, third shelf from the bottom." Jill rolled her eyes. She loved her mother very much, but she could be so scatterbrained sometimes. She had been the cubbard several times and had, surely, see the small brown bottle containing the eye of newt. "Thank you darling dear, I knew we kept you around for a reason." Her mother tosseled her hair as she walked by, leaving a light dusting of moth's wing behind. Jill shook her hair clean, sending the curles bouncing. "Dinner should be ready soon." "Dinner? I thought you were making a potion for Mr. Calburn," Jill felt her stomach lurch at the idea of eating lizard offal. "No, silly," Andora laughed, returning from the cubbard with her eye of newt in hand, "There are TV dinners in the oven. We may be witches, but that doesn't mean we can't eat like average people." As if on cue, the oven timer began to ring. Andora finished with the potion, pouring it into a glass bottle, before taking the metal trays out of the oven and called to her other children to come get their food while it was hot. Steam waffed from them, filling the kitchen with the scent of processed meat and salt. Jillian didn't particular care for these pre-packaged meals, but it was much better than eye of newt soup, so she didn't complain. Her younger sisters Jaina and Juliette ran into the kitchen. They were followed closely by their familars, also twins. "Momma," Jaina cried, "Jewel stool my Barbie! Tell her to give it back!" "Now now, you two stop fighting. Your sister is working on her home work. You know how important it is for her to do well, her Trial is in two weeks after all, she needs all the peace and quiet possible to study." Andora gathered them in her arms, "One day you'll be where she is, if you behave yourselves. Now, where is James?" James was the oldest of the four, having already underwent his Trial. He was sixteen now, three years older than Jillian, and as such he was constantly away from home. Usually with girls at the local drive-in theatre, much to Jillian's chagrin. She didn't know what those poor girls saw in him, and she was of half a mind that he was putting love charms on them. He was a good brother to them, but he was by no means a prized catch, even in their small southern town. "He's out with Dahlia tonight, I think." Jewel said, holding the doll over her sisters head. Priscilla, the grey and black cat that was her familar, twined around her legs protectively. "I thought it was Illia," Jaina reached up, straining on her toes. They were fraternal twins, and Jewel had grown four inches taller, giving her a significant advantage over Jaina. Odessa, Jaina's familiar, groomed herself by the door leading to the garden, uninterested in the twins' petty tug-of-war. Going on a small haitus for this title. Part Two - Transmogrification X Part Three - The Witching Hour X